You don't need to force God's hand with loud declarations of belief to make things happen. Instead, you can trust Him deeply even when He seems quiet, knowing that your persistence is rooted in His love. Keep seeking Him with a humble heart, because He hears your faith even in the waiting.
This is Gabe Mullins at Real Church, and we are in the middle of the faith series. This is faith part 2. What does faith look like? I thought of the fact that kids always learn new words by people using them in a sentence and hearing them in a sentence. They don't really learn words through definitions.
And that's the basis of this message. We dive into when did Jesus use the word *faith* and who was he most impressed by their faith and why. So, I hope you enjoy. Give it a listen and I hope it's a blessing to you. Alright.
Well, thank you guys. He who has ears, "let him hear". Jesus interjected that a lot in his messages. He said it a lot in the New Testament. He said it in Revelation even, like, 7 times.
He who has ears, let him hear. So I figured I'd try it out. So, we'll so we'll hear that a little a few times here. So, today, we're talking about faith. Faith part 2.
And, Jesus was constantly talking about faith. It's 1 of my favorite subjects in the whole world. I was so glad that I got to preach on it. He's constantly talking about faith. So, what I wanted to start off by doing is just hit 3 scriptures real quick.
Let's go to Matthew-21:21. Let's just wet our wet the whistle here with some scriptures. Jesus replied, truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, "go throw yourself" into the sea and it will be done. I like that translation. Go throw yourself into the sea.
Let's do Matthew-17:20. We're talking about faith. He replied, this is in the context of this, is the disciples weren't able to cast out a demon and they were wondering why. He replied, because you have so little faith. Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you. I know you guys have heard probably some of these before. Let's do 1 more. Here we go. John-14:12.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me, that's faith, will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. *John-14:12*. So when I was 15, I decided I need to read the Bible. I was going to church. I had a relationship with the Lord, and I'm like, I need to I need to start getting into these words.
So I started reading the Bible, and I read these scriptures. I read I read that, you know, I can say to a mountain, move. If all I gotta do is have faith and and I can do what Jesus did and greater. So I had these running through my mind and I you know, I'm from Michigan. It's freezing cold up there and we had an old clawfoot bathtub and I used to take baths in that thing, man, because I was always freezing up there.
I was taking a bath, and I was thinking about those scriptures, and I thought, you know what? I need to start putting this to the test. And, I'm like, Jesus, what would Jesus do? What did Jesus do in greater? I'll I'll start with what Jesus did.
Okay. There's water. He turned water into wine. Right? So, I said, alright, Lord.
I know you're gonna turn water into wine. He said, if I believe and I don't doubt, this water is gonna turn to wine. I said, I closed my eyes, I said, when I touch it, I know that this water is gonna be wine. And, I put my fingers in, I dipped it, I felt it was warm. I pulled it out.
Oh, I know it's wine. I opened my eyes. No, it was water. It was water. And, I'm like, what the heck is this?
And, I was actually a little challenged. And now, in hindsight, I get to laugh at it because like, I mean, this is an embarrassing story. God always tells me to tell the embarrassing stories. I hadn't even remembered this since I was preparing for this message. I look back on it and I'm like, man, what God would give a 15 year old a bathtub full of wine?
I didn't even know what wine was. I never seen a bottle in my life. Not to mention, I'm laying in it. It's immediately ruined. I would just pull the plug and drain it all.
And so in hindsight, I can laugh at that. I turn back and think, what a ridiculous thing. But it it's not so funny though when somebody else, their first time hearing these scriptures and they tie decide to dust off the faith scripture when, you know, their child is sick. Or, when their wife's on a ventilator and it's finally time to say, okay, fine. Faith, you said you'll do it, so I believe and let's do it.
And then, doesn't happen. And, what happens to these people? 1, maybe they probably turn away from God right there and then, they say, they feel completely let down. But, at best, they come back to him and they say, well, I know that you're good and, I'm just not gonna touch the faith thing anymore. I don't really believe that he always heals.
God might heal some people but it's just in his timing, and I don't know much more than that. But I gotta say, what if *faith* isn't just flexing your believing muscle as hard as you can? I I believe. I believe. I believe.
What if that's not even faith at all? Because he said, if you have faith this big, you'll move mountains. You'll say, get out of here mountain, and it will move. So, maybe, I mean, I'm not willing to look at that and say, Jesus, you're wrong. You know.
Where's my scripture? Romans-3:4 says, let God be true and every man a liar. So, I know that God is the 1 that's true. I'm the 1 that's not quite right, but I'm looking at that and I'm saying, well, why didn't it move? Why didn't the water turn to wine?
So, what if faith isn't just believing really hard? What if faith is something different? What if faith is something like more? Something that's maybe given to you rather than you turning it up and working it up? What if it's something that's like substantial, that's tangible, that's in you, and when you have it, you almost can't be denied?
It's like, even life can tell you something and you're like, no, life is lying to me because I can, I feel it? It's something in me, and it's a substance of what the very substance of the thing you're hoping for. Right? The very evidence that God is working in your life, and you know that he's coming he's coming through. Faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
We know that definition. We've heard that definition last week even. And, sometimes, that definition kinda leaves you still kinda wondering. So, what we're gonna do today is we're gonna go and we're gonna look at 3 stories in the bible where Jesus referenced faith, where Jesus was impressed by faith. And, we're gonna see what other characteristics You know, children learn words by seeing how they're used, not by reading definitions.
So, we're gonna do that. And, we're just trying to learn about faith. But first, *Hebrews-11:6*. Let's get up there. *Hebrews-11:6*.
Just the first part. And it and without faith, it is impossible to please God. So, right now, we're talking about pleasing God. Okay? I wanna emphasize that this is not God commanding you to do something and then you go do it.
It's not about obedience. We're actually desiring to please God. Please, pleasure. We wanna bring God pleasure. And so, wanna know about faith because I see and I read about how Jesus' eyes light up when he meets somebody with great faith.
I wanna be that person, so I wanna learn about faith and know about faith. And, if I've gotten it wrong all along, I wanna rework it and get it right. Let's go to Rome Romans-10:17. Yep. Romans-10:7 17.
So, how do we get faith? Faith comes from hearing. Okay. I'm not gonna use this 1 because I'm gonna use the new new King James. It says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
*Faith comes by hearing* and hearing by the word of God. The King James version says, "faith cometh" by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I like that 1 even better. So, everyone, do me do me a favor. Say faith cometh.
*Faith* cometh. Alright. So, we don't have to work for it. We don't have to churn it up. We don't even have to pray for it.
Why? Because faith cometh. Faith comes. And, it says that faith comes by *hearing* and hearing by the word of God. Let he who has ears, let him hear.
What did Jesus mean when he said that? He who has ears, let him hear. Everybody in this room has ears, but he wanted people to hear, hear in their spirit. Something different going on here. You see, we could You would think Paul would say, faith comes by hearing the word of God.
But, he didn't say it that way. He says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So, we need to hear the word of God in our spirits. You remember the the the parable of the seed where Jesus says, some seed is thrown out. It's the word of God is thrown out, and the devil will come and snatch it up before it has time to root.
See, we need to hear the word of God. So, let's hear it today. Okay. *Faith comes by hearing*. Alright.
Our first story, Matthew-8:5 through 13. I'm gonna read it out of the New King James, so hopefully, it's not too confusing here. *Matthew-8:5* through 13. Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum or Capernaum, a centurion came to him pleading with him saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him.
Remember that for later. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this 1, go in and he goes, and to another come and he comes, and to my servant do this and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed, assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.
And I say to you that many will come from the East and from the West and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the "sons of the kingdom", he's referring to Jews at this time, the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus said to the centurion, go your way and as you have believed, so let it be done for you. And his servant was *healed* that very hour. So Jesus came preaching the kingdom, The kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven. King. Kingdom. King and subjects. That's what a kingdom is.
And, we don't know much about that in America. You know, we are pretty, enthralled with independence, an Independence Day. We have a democracy or a republic, I guess, and we we don't really know deeply about what a kingdom is. But, the centurion, he knew, because he was a part of an empire, which is essentially a kingdom. And, this is why he elaborates on it.
I'm a man under authority, and I have authority over others. So, when the centurion sees Jesus preaching about the kingdom, and then he sees him laying on hands and demons being cast out, and when he sees him laying on hands and people being healed, he recognizes that Jesus has authority over the spiritual realm, just like I have authority over this servant and that servant. And with authority, there's no, maybe it's gonna happen, maybe it's not. It's very clear when Jesus speaks, it happens. So, he naturally sees Jesus for who he is at a level that even the disciples didn't even understand yet.
Remember when the disciples said, who is this? Can you they can even calm the waves and the winds. So, what is it about understanding authority that we can learn that gives us faith? Let's look at Matthew-28:18. This is 1 of the last things Jesus said on earth.
If we don't have it, that's alright. It says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Matthew-28:18. So Jesus has all authority. Let's look at 2 Corinthians-5:20.
I'm gonna be jumping a little quick. 2 Corinthians-5:20 says this, now then, we are *ambassadors* for Christ. So Jesus has been given all authority. We are ambassadors for Christ. What's an ambassador?
An ambassador yeah. You guys hear it, but I I got a definition here for you. An ambassador is the ranking government representative stationed in a foreign country. So, we're in a foreign country representative of Christ. The host country typically allows the ambassador control of specific territory called an embassy, whose territory, staff and vehicles are generally afforded diplomatic immunity in the host country.
Well, that's kind of the case. But, why is that? Let's look at this. 2 Corinthians-4:4, Paul says that the god of this world is Satan. So, the god of this world is Satan.
*Christ has all authority though, over Satan and over all of the earth and over all of heavens. And, we are Christ's ambassadors*. So, wherever we go, we have an embassy because Christ has given it to us. And, in a way, we are taking territory back for the kingdom of heaven. And, until we understand that, we won't operate like the Roman centurion did because we have to get the authority into our spirits.
*Luke-10:19* says, Jesus says this, behold, I give you the *authority* to "trample on serpents" and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. So, we have been given authority by Jesus to trample on serpents and scorpions. He who has ears, let him hear. Alright. Luke-18:1 through 8.
Then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and "not lose heart". That's the, conclusion of the parable right there. Men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Let's read on anyway. Saying, there was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
Now, was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, get justice for me from my adversary. And he would not for a little while, but afterward he said within himself, though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her. Lest by her continual coming, she wear me out. Then the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said. Well, Jesus, you just told us what the unjust judge said.
Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out to him day and night, though he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth. So, Jesus called persistence faith.
Or, rather, maybe he recognized that in the persistent widow, she was, she had faith, and because of that faith, it led to persistence. But either way, we see a link between faith and persistence. Amen. While I was prepping for this message, at this very point, actually, my wife sat Isaiah down next to me. Said, I gotta run to the restroom.
And so she ran off. And I'm like, okay. Here you go, buddy. And I'm like, type type type. And he's like, and he just starts fussing, getting fussy.
He's moving around. I'm like, buddy, here, take the give him a toy. Come on, you're alright. He starts getting worse and worse. And, it took all of him about 2 minutes for me to set the iPad down, pick him up.
Alright, buddy. What do you wanna do? What do you wanna look at? Here we go. Let's go over here.
Right. I mean, Isaiah's got faith. He's got faith. Isaiah will wake up in a dark room. He doesn't know how he got there.
Half the time he falls asleep, he wakes up somewhere new. He doesn't know if I'm home. He doesn't know if he's in a home. So what does he do? Me and Moriah are outside going, is he gonna fall back asleep?
I'll wait. He waits and then you better believe by then, either me or Moriah have gotten up and we're running to the room. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out to him day and night. Like, God is after you more than I'm after Isaiah, and boy, do I love that boy. He loves you more than I love him.
And then, goes on to say, will the Son of Man really find *faith* on the earth? See, that's wild to me. That's like a little freaky to me, actually. I take that kind of as a personal warning that I need to have faith. I don't want to be turning back.
I don't want to be letting go because to me, I wanna be found with faith if Jesus comes back. And even if that means I don't see the thing that I'm looking for or praying for, I'm gonna believe his word over what I'm seeing until the day he comes back or until the day I go to him. And, what was the point of the parable? That men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Hebrews-10:38 says this, now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
Pleasure. You hear that again? My soul has no pleasure in him. We're talking about pleasing God. See, the just shall live by faith, and faith is what pleases God.
But, we don't wanna turn back, and I don't wanna be 1 that turns back. But, so the question is this. So, is that is that what faith is? Do we just annoy God, drive him crazy until he gives us what we want? I mean, could do that.
I'm annoying. I have a gift in annoying. I think I'm anointed in annoying. Like, when I read this parable, I'm like, that's that's it. That's my parable.
I can knock all day and all night until you open up. But Jesus said, we do not serve an unjust judge. He says, that this is not an unjust judge, but he called you to his elect. See, we gotta remember that this is all in the context of relationship with the 1 we love and the 1 that loves us greater. So, what does it look like to be in relationship and yet still be persistent?
He said he said, will he not avenge his own elect? Do you know what the the elect means? That's like favorite. Like, that's my favorite people. Will he not avenge his very special people?
And then, Jesus says, I tell you for sure, he's coming fast to your aid. Right? He's our betrothed. We are his bride. So, this is a covenant relationship going on.
It's not just, annoy him until you get what you want. So, what does it look like though to have persistence, in relationship? Well, I'm glad I asked. Let's go to *Matthew-15* for our last story. *Matthew-15:21* through 28.
Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre in Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him saying, have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely demon possessed. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and urged him saying, send her away for she cries out after us.
But he answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So he's referring to the Jews at that point saying, I was sent to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. Then she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the "little dogs". Wow.
And she said, yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. And Jesus answered and said to her, oh woman, great is your faith, Let it be done as you desire. And her daughter was *healed* from that very hour. I get emotional every time I read that. You know, the church I grew up in, there was a guest speaker.
And every time she would get up, I knew she was gonna cry like 10 times during the sermon, and it drove me crazy. And now, I'm the guest speaker, and I think I've cried every single time. It's like, God knows how to write a story, man. I'm telling you. So let's just break this thing down because a lot of people are confused by this.
And I was for a long long time. When I read it when I was 15, I was like, wow. That is offensive. But I read it the past 2, 3 years, and it's broke my heart every time. Every time.
So let's just take let's just take this as as, let's just let me ask you this. Can we probably agree that it's not Jesus' will that this woman's daughter is severely demon possessed? We can probably agree on that. Right? That's not what he desires.
That's not his will. So we know it's not his will. But, for some reason, when she approached, he is silent. And, I find this particularly interesting because as I was preparing, I noticed *Matthew-8* is where we saw the Roman centurion. That was long ago.
And, the Roman wasn't a Jew either. And, when the Roman approached Jesus, he said, yeah, let's go and heal your boy. And, he says, oh, no. You know, we just read the story. You don't have to come under my roof.
Jesus, like, gave him an opportunity to display his faith. And, in this time, he remained silent. And, I know that some of us have prayed before and felt like Jesus has remained silent. I personally think this isn't in the bible, but I personally think that the Lord was listening to the Holy Spirit at that time. And surprisingly, being told, don't heal her yet.
Because he knee jerk healed almost everybody, you know. But he remained silent. Let me see. I lost my place a little bit. 21.
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and urged him saying, send her away for she cries out after us. But he answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's interesting because the disciple said, send her away. And, he didn't send her away though.
He gave her a "soft no", pretty much. Anybody with kids knows what that means. Maybe, you know yeah. The trip trip is over if he's saying, you know, can can I have this piece of candy? If you say, may maybe maybe in a little bit, you know, maybe later.
But not right now, buddy, but maybe later. He's gonna go, oh, sure. He'll follow right up. He knows what a soft no is. And Jesus essentially gives her a soft no.
Listen, I was sent to the Jews. And, what was her response? She came and worshiped him, saying, Lord help me. And, the question is, can we worship him when we get even a soft no? Even though we know what his will is.
A soft no like maybe you don't hear what he says or you don't, he doesn't show up and just heal you right away and yet, you kinda know his will. And so, can we worship in that moment? And not just worship in that moment, but unlike the people who say, you know what? Let's not talk about healing anymore. I I guess Jesus doesn't want I guess it's my burden to bear.
What if we can actually say, in worship, Lord, help me? What if we can keep the persistence? But he answered and said, so Jesus doubles down, it is not good to take a children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. He he gives an analogy like he also he he does all the time and then except this time, he didn't say, he who has ears, let him hear. And yet, somehow she heard what he said at a level that was so profound.
Think it's 1 of the most profound things in the whole bible. She said, even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. See, it isn't good to take bread from the children and throw it to dogs to eat. Right? But, if the children have the bread and they break it and they throw it around and they disrespect it and the bread falls to the dogs, it's not good to pick up the bread from the dogs and give it back to the child.
At that point, she found a way for her to fit within this analogy without being offended. She actually humbly moves into it and says, yes, but there's still a way for me to get the blessing even within your scenario. And, it was so profound because do you know, Jesus is the "bread of life". Right? And, Jesus came and he said, I'm coming for the Jews.
But, the Jews broke him and they disrespected him and they threw him off to the ground for the all of the Gentiles to pick up and eat, which is you and me, if you're in this room. And, it is so profound that she was actually, and I don't know if she knew what she was doing, but in a way, she was prophesying what was to happen with Jesus. That he was gonna go to the cross. That he would say, this is my body which is broken for you. Take and eat it.
And that through that, she would receive her healing. She saw Jesus for who he was. Just like the Romans and Jews saw Jesus for who he was. And, when Jesus heard it, he heard faith. The band can come back up if you guys are ready.
We're gonna look at 1 more scripture. *Galatians-3:26* is the start. Let me think. So are we to be like dogs? Is that what the the lesson is?
Do we have to look for what Jesus is gonna do in the future like she had to do? No. Jesus did it once and for all. He opened the way for everyone who believes in him and has faith in him to receive him. It says, for you are all "sons of God" through faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, that means Jew or Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all 1 in Christ Jesus. And you have if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Let's skip down to near the end here. Even so, when we were children, we're in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, **Abba, father**, daddy, father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if you are a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you walk away from today encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like connect to with us, we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving, or you can text any amount to 84321, and then just search in the link that comes up.
Search for Real Church Lord. God bless you, and the best is yet to come.